MERCY – MERCY – MERCY
BREAD
29 “You warned them to return to your law, but they became arrogant and disobeyed your commands. They sinned against your ordinances, by which a man will live if he obeys them. Stubbornly they turned their backs on you, became stiff-necked and refused to listen. 30 For many years you were patient with them. By your Spirit you admonished them through your prophets. Yet they paid no attention, so you handed them over to the neighboring peoples. 31 But in your great mercy you did not put an end to them or abandon them, for you are a gracious and merciful God.” Nehemiah 9:29-31 (NIV)
1 Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me, for in you my soul takes refuge. I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed. Psalms 57:1 (NIV)
13 He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy. Proverbs 28:13 (NIV)
9 In all their distress he too was distressed, and the angel of his presence saved them. In his love and mercy he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old. Isaiah 63:9 (NIV)
17 “Now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of your servant. For your sake, O Lord, look with favor on your desolate sanctuary. 18 Give ear, O God, and hear; open your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears your Name. We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy. 19 O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hear and act! For your sake, O my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name.” Daniel 9:17-19 (NIV)
6 For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings. Hosea 6:6 (NIV)
8 He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8 (NIV)
50 His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation. Luke 1:50 (NIV)
23 “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. 25 Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt. 26 The servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ 27 The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go. 28 But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded. 29 His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’ 30 But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened. 32 Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34 In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. 35 This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.” Matthew 18:23-35 (NIV)
1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God–this is your spiritual act of worship. 2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:1-2 (NIV)
12 Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, 13 because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment! James 2:12-13 (NIV)
BUTTER
“Nothing graces the Christian soul as much as mercy.” Ambrose
“Mercy imitates God and disappoints Satan.” John Chrysostom
“God’s willingness to show mercy appears by His joyfulness when sinners take hold on His mercy. God’s goodness is that He rejoices at the salvation of sinners and is glad when His mercy is accepted. God rejoices when a poor sinner comes in and takes hold of His mercy. What an encouragement to believe in God! He is a God of pardons. Mercy pleases Him. Nothing prejudices us but unbelief. Unbelief stops the current of God’s mercy from running, shut God’s bowels, closes the cavity of Christ’s wounds, so no healing virtue will come out. As far as the heavens are above the earth, so far is God’s mercy above our sins. What will tempt us to believe, if not the mercy of God?” Thomas Watson
“Among the attributes of God, although they are all equal, mercy shines with even more brilliance than justice.” Miguel de Cervantes
“Something happens when we come to God for His grace and mercy–something that is so radical and so amazing that it can only be described as death to our old selves. It is the overwhelming desire to please the One who has loved us with such amazing and unconditional love…I may not get better overnight; I may not be the fine, upstanding, and wonderful Christian I thought I was, but I now have a desire to please the One who loved me (and gave Himself for me). That desire is the soil in which goodness grows–not perfectly, by any means, but it does grow.” Steve Brown
“There is a wideness in God’s mercy, like the wideness of the sea.” Frederick William Faber
“The mercy of God is that attribute which we, the fallen, sinful race of Adam, stand in greatest need of, and God has been pleased, according to our needs, more gloriously to manifest this attribute than any other. The wonders of divine grace are the greatest of all wonders. The wonders of divine power and wisdom in the making of this great world are marvelous; many wonderful things have happened since the creation of the world, but none like the wonders of grace. ‘Grace, grace!’ is the sound that the gospel rings with, ‘Grace, grace!’ will be that shout which will ring in heaven forever; and perhaps what the angels sung at the birth of Christ, of God’s good will towards men, is the highest theme that ever they entered upon.” Jonathan Edwards
“To added affliction He addeth His mercy, to multiplied trials, His multiplied peace.” Annie Johnson Flint
“I love Him because He first loved me. His goodness and mercy and compassion to me are new every day. And my assurance is lodged in these aspects of His character. My trust is in His love for me as His own. My serenity has as its basis an implicit, unshakable reliance on His ability to do the right thing, the best thing in any given situation. This to me is the supreme portrait of my Shepherd. Continually there flows out to me His goodness and His mercy, which even though I do not deserve them, come unremittingly from their source of supply – His own great heart of love.” Phillip Keller
“We have every reason to hold on firmly to the faith we profess, for He who has called us is faithful! It is Jesus who saves us, lives to intercede for us, allows us to approach the throne of grace with confidence, and grants us His abundant grace, mercy, and peace.” BHY
“He that demands mercy and shows none ruins the bridge over which he himself is to pass.” Thomas Adams
“Participate with God and proclaim the Gospel, not because you have a low-grade sense of guilt that you ought to act, but do them because you have a high-grade sense of grace that makes you want to act. Do them because you know that you were once impoverished in your sin, a slave to Satan, orphaned from God, and alone in this world. Yet God reached down his mercy-filled hand into your sin-soaked heart and through the sacrifice of His only begotten Son on a blood-stained cross, He lifted you up to new life by His alluring love. You now have nothing to fear and nothing to lose because you are robed in the riches of Christ and safe in the security of Christ.” David Platt
“Does my life and conduct correspond to my high calling as a Christian? Am I actuated by the love of Christ instead of worldly ambition? Do I prefer God’s honor to my own and justice to gain? When I look to myself, I feel such a burden of sin that no other hope of salvation is left me but in the mercy of Christ alone.” Gregory VII – Hildebrand
“Do you wish to receive mercy? Show mercy to your neighbor.” John Chrysostom
“The God who needs nothing, came needy. The God who came to give us mercy, was at our mercy. And He who entered into our world, He lets us say it in a thousand ways– that there is no room at the inn. God steps directly before us in the needs we can indirectly neglect.” Ann Voskamp
“God hath in Himself all power to defend you, all wisdom to direct you, all mercy to pardon you, all grace to enrich you, all righteousness to clothe you, all goodness to supply you, and all happiness to crown you.” Thomas Brooks
“Peacemakers are people who breathe grace. They draw continually on the goodness and power of Jesus Christ, and then they bring His love, mercy, forgiveness, strength and wisdom to the conflicts of daily life. God delights to breathe His grace through peacemakers and use them to dissipate anger, improve understanding, promote justice and encourage repentance and restoration.” Ken Sande
“Our moods may shift, but God’s doesn’t. Our minds may change, but God’s doesn’t. Our devotion may falter, but God’s never does. Even if we are faithless, he is faithful, for he cannot betray himself (2 Timothy 2:13). He is a sure God. And because he is a sure God, we can state confidently, ‘Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.’ And what follows the word surely? ‘Goodness and mercy.’ If the Lord is the shepherd who leads the flock, goodness and mercy are the two sheepdogs that guard the rear of the flock. Goodness and mercy. Not goodness alone, for we are sinners in need of mercy. Not mercy alone, for we are fragile, in need of goodness. We need them both. As one man wrote, ‘Goodness to supply every want. Mercy to forgive every sin. Goodness to provide. Mercy to pardon.’ Goodness and mercy — the celestial escort of God’s flock. If that duo doesn’t reinforce your faith, try this phrase: ‘all the days of my life.’” Max Lucado
HEART SAVOR
• God desires for His children to be merciful. Just as we have been freely given mercy we are to freely give mercy to others.
• God does not look lightly at the unmerciful heart.
• Goodness to provide and mercy to pardon follow the child of the King all the days of their life – what a blessed assurance we have!
Beth Yoe's Sharing Bread 